His primary areas of research include the psychology of prejudice and discrimination, judgment and decision making, international security, and the human use of animals and the environment.

[4][5][6] Created in 1996, the mission of the Network "is to promote peace, social justice, and sustainable living through public education, research, and the advancement of psychology.

[10] As part of the course, students are asked to complete a capstone assignment called the Day of Compassion, in which class members are challenged to live 24 hours as compassionately as possible and analyze the experience using social psychology.

"[14] Between 2005 and 2015, Social Psychology Network held an annual action teaching award competition that honored outstanding examples and posted them on the web for teachers to freely use or adapt.

[15] In 2001, Plous coauthored a study that evaluated the reliability of 50 randomly selected Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).

[16] This lack of reliability was found even with proposals in which animals were subjected to electric shock, food or water deprivation, significant pain, or death.